Seaming head for closing machines



April 25, 1933. KRONQUEST 1,906,162

SEAMING HEAD FOR CLOSING MACHINES Filed April 28, 1951 6 Sheets-Sheet lA. LJKRONQUEST 1,906,162

SEAMING HEAD FOR CLOSING MACHINES April 25, 1933.

Filed April 28, 1931 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 abtomqs April 25, 1933. KRONQUEST1,906,162

SEAMING HEAD FOR CLOSING MACHINES Filed April 28, 1951 6 Sheets-Sheet I5J] 35 Wh /d4 April 1933- A. L. KRONQUEST 1,906,162

SEAMING HEAD FOR CLOSING MACHINES Filed April 28, 1931 6 Sheets-Sheet 5fad aid)".

5 L- UH I K m n| z 1 1 1 16' gm'ntoz Patented Apr. 25, 1933 UNITED STATS PATENT 0p ALFRED L. KRONQUEST, 0F SYRACUSE, NEwj'YoRK, ASSIGNOR croooN'rINEN'rALcAN COMPANY, me, on NEW YORK, N. A oonroR rIoN or NEW YORKSEAMING HEAD FOR Application filed April 28,

The invention relates'to new and useful improvements in aseaming headfor closing machines, and more particularly to a seaming head which isrotated during the seaming operation.

An object of the invention is to provide a seaming head of the abovetype wherein the seaming rollsare carried by arms mounted on relativelylong actuating spindles which travel with the rotating head and whichare capable of yielding for permitting the seaming rolls to cross theside seam during the seaming of the end to'the can body.

A further object of the inventionis to provide a seaming head of theabove type wherein'the arms which carry the seaming rolls haveassociated therewith means for shifting the set positions of the armsrelative to the spindle.

A still further object of theinvention is to provide a seaming head ofthe above type wherein the seaming rolls are held on the arms throughinterengagement of the rolls with the chuck, and wherein the camfollower which actuates the spindles is capable of being moved to andfrom operative position for permitting the swinging of the armso as todisengage the roll from the chuck so that it can be detached fromthe'arm.

These and other objects will in part be obvious and will in partbehereinafter more fully disclosed. 1 In the drawings which show by way ofillustration one'embodiment of the invention- Figure 1 is aside view ofa seaming head embodying the improvements;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the head detached from its supporting shaft andwith one-of the top plates removed, I

Fig. 3 is a sectional view through the head on the line3-3 of Fig. 2 ofthe drawings;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 44 of Fig. 3; a

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional line 5-5 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a view at the upper end of the seaming head with the operatingcam in section and showing the upper spindle arms and followersassociated therewith in plan,

view on the mits the seaming roll CLOSING MACHINES 1 31. SerialNo.-583,560.

the1 followers being in operative position, an i V a e Fig. 7 is asimilar view but showing the followers as swung to inoperative position.The invention is directed to aseaming head which includes a rotatin'ghead portion on which are mounted a plurality of vertically disposedspindles. Each spindle is provided with an arm carrying a seaming roll.As shown, there is an arm rigidly attached to the spindle, and acompanion arm which carries the'seaming roll which is freely mounted onthe spindle. -The two arms are connected by a worm sector and a wormgear which may be utilized for shifting the arm carrying the seamingroll to difierent set positions on the spindle. The spindle isoscillated for bringin'gthe seaming roll into contact with the metalparts for forming the seam, by acam follower cooperating with areciprocating cam which rotates with the head. This cam follower isattached to an arm fixed to the upper end'of the spindle. It is soconnected to the arm that it may be shifted to an inoperative position,that is, moved away from contact with the cam. The seaming roll is heldon the arm with which it is associated bya chuck with which said seamingroll has continuous interengagement. When the fol-V lower is moved toinoperative position, the spindle may be turned so as to' disengage theseaming roll from the chuck and this perto be. detached from itssupporting arm. f

Referringmore in detail to the drawings, the seaming head includes arotating head portion-1 which is-attached to a flanged head 2 carriedbysleeve 3. This sleeve 3is rotated continuously, and through the flangedhead imparts rotation to the head portion 1: --Located centrally of thehead portion '1 is a chuck 4. Said chuck is carried by a sleeveb, andbetween the sleeve 5 and the rotating head portion 1 are ball bearings 6and 7.. The sleeve carrying the chuck is splined to a center rod 8 whichcarries a stripper pad 9. This center rod 8 is held therewith.

stationary. The supporting bracket located beneath the seaming head onwhich the end is placed, is indicated at 10 in the drawings. Saidbracket has a seat for the end and also a tapered opening 11 whichengages the can body, rounding up the same, and centering the can bodyso that the end will be seated therein. The stripping pad 9 cooperateswith the support for the can in bringing about the seating of the end inthe can, and also the stripping of the can from the chuck after the seamhas been formed.

The seaming head, as shown in the drawings, is provided with fourspindles, each of which is vertically disposed, so that the axis of thespindle is substantially parallel with the axis of the rotating head.These spindles are indicated at 12 in the drawings. They are allsimilar, and a description of one will answer for the others. Eachspindle carries, at the lower end thereof, an arm 13. The arm 13 has asleeve hub which fits a substantially rectangular portion 14L at thelower end of the spindle. Thus it is that the arm 13 is firmly locked tothe spindle so that there can be no axial movement of the arm on thespindle. Directly beneath this arm 13 is another arm 15 which carriesthe seaming roll 16. The arm 15 is mounted for free movement angularlyon the spindle 12. Said arm has a hub portion which engages thecylindrical lower end of the spindle, and is held thereon by means of alocking bolt 17 bearing against a washerlS. The arm 13 which is rigidlysecured to the spindle 12 isprovided with a segment gear 19. Mounted onthe arm 15 is a worm shaft 20 which engages the segment gear 19. Theworm shaft 20 is clamped against a seat at the inner end thereof, by alocking bolt 22. When the bolt 22 is released,

the worm shaft can be turned, shifting the arms relative to each other,and then the bolts set up, looking the arms in their set position. Theseaming roll is mounted on a roller bearing 23, which in turn is mountedon a cylin drical stud 24: formed integral with the arm 15. The rollerbearing and seaming roll are slipped on to this cylindrical stud, afterwhich the spindle is shifted so as to cause the groove 25 in the seamingroll to engage a rib 26 on the chuck 4, and this interengagement of theseaming roll and chuck is what holds the seaming roll on the cylindricalstud 24.

At the upper end of the spindle 12 is an arm 27 which is rigidlyattached to the spindle 12, preferably being formed integral This arm 27carries a cam follower 28. The cam follower 28 is mounted on a bushingcarried by a cylindrical stud 29 which is attached to the arm 27. Thearm 27 has swinging movement imparted thereto through this follower. Aplate 30 attached to the head serves as a wear plate, and holds the camfollower on the cylindrical stud 29. This cam follower is provided witha Vshaped nose 31 which cooperates with a cam 32 attached to a sleeve33, which sleeve rotates with the seaming head and has endwise movementrelative to the sleeve 3 carrying the seaming head. The cam 32 isprovided with a projecting cam face 34 at the right thereof as viewed inFig. 3, and with a cam face 35 at the left thereof, as viewed in thisfigure. The cam face 34 operates on the follower associated with thespindle carrying the first-operation seaming roll, while the cam face 35operates on the follower associated with the second-operation seamingroll. There are two first-operation rolls and two second-operationrolls. They are diametrically disposed relative to each other. On thefirst part of the downward movement of the cam 32, the first-operationseam rolls are active, after which they are withdrawn, and then thesecond-operation seaming rolls are rendered effective. hen the cam 32 isat the extreme lower end of its stroke, there is a cutaway portion 34Ljust above the cam face 34, and a cut-away portion 35 just above the camface 35, which are brought opposite the respective followers,cooperating with these cam faces 34 and 35. The same is true of theother followers and the cams controlled thereby. When in this position,a cam follower may turn on its supporting spindle to the full lineposition in Fig. 7. hen the cam followers have been turned to thisposition, then the spindle carrying the seaming rolls can be turned soas to disengage the seaming rolls from the chuck. \Vhen the seamingrolls, or any one of them, are disengaged from the chuck, they may bemoved endwise on their supporting spindles, and detached from thesupporting arms carrying the same.

The spindles carying the seaming rolls are of sufficient length so thatsaid spindles will yield to permit the seaming roll to cross the sideseam, and at the same time, the seaming roll is held firmly in contactwith the metal parts so as to insure a tight rolled seam at both sidesof the side seam. When it is de-' sired to adjust the position of anyone of the seaming rolls relative to the spindle, this can be readilyaccomplished through the worm shaft adjustment provided therefor. Whenthe worm shaft is turned, it will cause through its engagement with thesegment worm gear, a shifting of the arm, and consequently a shifting ofthe seaming roll relative to its supporting and actuating spindle. \Vhenit is desired to remove the seaming roll for any purpose, this can bereadily done by turning the cam follower to an inoperative position sothat the spindle can be swung to disengage the roll from the chuck. Whenthe roll has been replaced on the arm supporting the same, the spindleis swung to cause said seaming roll to engage the chuck, and then thecam follower is returned to its opcrative position. It will benoted-that the swinging of the cam follower back into its operativeposition restores the parts to their original setting. In other words,the connection between the seaming roll and the actuating cam has beenreleased, and the shifting of the parts permitted for the removing ofthe roll, and when the roll is replaced, the parts may be at oncereturned to their original setting. No adjustment of the rolls as totiming is necessary when a roll is removed and another substitutedtherefor.

It is obvious that minor changes in the details of construction and thearrangement of the parts may be made without departing from the spiritof'the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire ,tosecure by Letters- Patent, is

1. A seaming head for can closing machines comprising a .rotating headportion, a stationary chuck associated therewith, a plurality ofvertically disposed spindles carried by said head portion, an armattached to the lower end.of each spindle, a seaming roll carriedthereby, an arm attached to the upper end of said spindle, a camfollower mounted thereon, a reciprocating cam rotating with said headand operating on said cam followers, said seaming rolls being held onthe supporting arms therefor by interengagement with the chuck, andmeans whereby the cam follower may be moved to inoperative position topermit the spindle to be shifted so as to disengage the seaming rollfrom the chuck, whereby the seaming roll may be detached from itssupporting arm.

2. A seaming head for can closing machines comprising a rotating headportion, a stationary chuck associated therewith, a plurality ofspindles carried by the head portion and extending in a directionparallel with the axis of rotation of the head, an arm attached to thelower end of each spindle, a seaming roll carried thereby, an armattached to the upper end of each spindle, a cam follower mountedthereon, a reciprocating cam mounted on said head and engaging said camfollowers, said seaming rolls being held on the supporting arms thereforby interengagement with the chuck, and means whereby the cam followersmay be turned on their respective arms so as to clear the operating camtherefor and permit the spindle to be shifted so as to disengage theseaming roll from the chuck.

3. A seaming head for can closing machines comprising a rotating headportion, a stationary chuck associated therewith, a plurality ofspindles carried by the head portion and extending in a directionparallel with the axis of rotation of the head, an arm attached to thelower end ofeach spindle, a seaming roll carried thereby, an armattached to the upper end of each spindle, a

